Founder and Editor of The Lanchester Review. Previous or occasional contributor to Prime Politics, Comment is Free, The First Post/The Week, Harry's Place, New Directions, The Brussels Journal, The London Progressive Journal, Labour Uncut, The American Conservative and Russia Today (RT). Available for work via davidaslindsay@hotmail.com, all lower case.

Wednesday, 19 December 2012

The Wansbeck One To Watch

The MP with the constituent's
suicide note. Dismissed as positively hilarious by the likes of Coffee House, of course. Dead plebs, ha, ha, ha.

That MP was Ian
Lavery, whom there was a concerted right-wing press campaign to brand as unfit
for office in the run-up to the last Election, on account of his disdain for
the police (during the Miners' Strike). They have changed their minds now,
haven't they?

Until his election last time, Lavery was President of the NUM, a position which he ought to have retained both as an MP and, in the fullness of time, as a Minister; the few members of the present Cabinet who have ever had any need to work spend most of their time as fabulously remunerated directors in the taxpayer-underwritten City. Until recent days, he was PPS to Harriet Harman. But after putting down the most mildly social democratic amendment imaginable, the Blairite remnant managed to force his removal. Yet they still stand absolutely no chance of office under Miliband. Whereas, first after that and now after today, he stands even chance more than ever.

And he has always, throughout its existence, been the Convenor of the Morning Star Parliamentary Readers' and Supporters' Group, both the emergence and the rapid growth of which in the present Parliament may be ranked alongside the election of three Eurosceptics out of three to represent Labour MPs on the National Executive Committee, including one who has voted against every Treaty since the first one.

Alongside the votes of one third of the Parliamentary Labour Party for it to be chaired by John Cryer, an outspoken and dynastic advocate of withdrawal from the EU. Alongside the presence of Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor, and of Jon
Cruddas at the head of the Labour Party Policy Review. Alongside the
votes of every Labour MP without exception for a real-terms reduction in
the British contribution to the EU Budget, when the number of Tory
rebels in the same cause was, pitifully, fewer than the number of Lib Dem MPs.

And alongside this summer's speech to a hundred thousand people by John Hendy QC, erstwhile No2EU candidate in London, from the same platform as that by Ed Miliband. A platform on which Tony Benn and Bob Crow were also seated, and which bore the legend, "Buy The Morning Star", the only part of the British press to have been consistently opposed to the Eurofederalist project from the very start, including in the days of Thatcher's Single European Act.

6 comments:

I note the disgraceful arrest of the Pleb-gate whistle-blower in line with Leveson's clause banning police from airing grievances to the press (without such whistle-blowers Ali Dizaei et.al would still be in the police).

I also note that Maria Miller and Cameron's Director of Comms threatened the Telegraph if they published details of her expenses-grabbing, warning that she was "closely involved with Leveson".

In light of this sinister turn of events, and the growing assault on liberty and our ability to hold politicians to account, can we expect an apology from you for your misguided and wrong support for Leveson?

Real conservatives understand that it's always the state that is the real threat to freedom.

A Government without newspapers or newspapers without a Government? Its no contest. We're all with Jefferson on that one.

A clause in Leveson enables police to do exactly this-and arrest any policeman who gives away information to the press. Without which, we'd never know about Mitchell, nor would we ever have convicted the Lawrence killers or Ali Dizaei.

The fact the Government has ALREADY used Leveson to try and silence the press (over Maria Miller's expenses) tells us what kind of a monster awaits, if Leveson ever became law.

Do you not get the fact our Bill of Rights (which abolished the press licensing laws) was drawn up by people who knew you should never trust Government with too much power?

And it looks as if - in fact, it is no longer in doubt that - Mitchell was innocent, at least of saying "plebs" or of distressing passing members of the public. The papers that printed those police claims printed malicious lies.

Even if he was, the point remains that many genuine wrongs (such as Ali Dizaei's corruption, or the corruption in the police at the time of the Lawrence murder) would never have been revealed without the polie whistle-blowers Leveson would make illegal.

And you didn't respond to the point about Maria Miller.

If the Coalition Government are already using Leveson to threaten the press into not reporting facts about them (as they did over Maria Miller's expenses) before it is even the law, this should give you an idea how they would behave once it IS the law.

About Me

Founder, Proprietor, Publisher and Editor of The Lanchester Review since 2013. Founder, Proprietor (for now), Publisher (for now) and Editor-in-Chief of Lanchester Books since 2014. Charity volunteer and administrator since 1994. Freelance journalist since 1996. Supply teacher and market research worker from 2002 until prevented by disability. Member of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham since 2006. Preventing the University of Durham’s undergraduates’ degrees from getting the way of their education since 2000.
Elected Parish Councillor from the age of 21 until I stood down voluntarily in 2013. During that time, Lanchester was among the first in the country to secure power of wellbeing, power of general competence, and Quality Parish Council Status.
At 21, I began eight years as a governor of a primary school which, at the time of my appointment, still had the same Headteacher as when I had been a pupil there. Three weeks short of 22, I found myself in the same position when I began eight years as a governor of a comprehensive school.
Since May 2013, a member of the Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner's Community Panel.